The First War: The Story of James and Sirius
by TakeoTag
Summary: Before the story that everyone knows, there was James Potter and his best friend Sirius Black. This is the story of James and Sirius and how their life unfolded leading up to the attempted murder of James's son Harry Potter. Please Read and Review.


**Chapter 1**

A flash of green light blazes across the dark sky, someone is screaming in the distance and a lifeless body falls from the sky to the cold ground below. James Potter awakes in a cold sweat and sits up breathing heavily. The warm sunlight from the morning sun shines through James' bedroom window as he surveys the room. Tuffs of black hair stick out from under the covers of a bed pushed up against the far wall. Still asleep on the other side of the room was Sirius Black. Sirius was James Potter's best friend since their first day at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry almost 7 years ago. James and Sirius were wizards who had been attending one of the finest schools for witches and wizards in the world. They were entering their final year at Hogwarts and would be leaving today to catch the Hogwarts Express, which would take them to school.

Sirius stirred in his bed and opened one eye to see James sitting up in his bed looking at him. Sitting up he asked, "Something wrong James?"

"It's nothing", James replied. "I just had one of the weirdest dreams, it seemed so real but I don't know what it was. Oh well, I don't have time to worry about that now we still need to pack and my mom wants us to leave early."

"Oh man you mean summer vacation is over already? I could have sworn we still had a couple more days", said Sirius as he climbed out of bed.

"I am glad she trusts us to go to Kingscross Station alone this year. Can you imagine how it would look for the Head Boy to show up for school with his mummy and daddy by his side?", said James.

Sirius walked over to the window and looked out at the street down below. Outside two witches were working in the garden next door. They were using their wands to send small jets of yellow sparks into the weeds which caused little garden gnomes to scurry from their hiding spots.

"Thanks again for letting me stay the summer James. I don't know what I would have done if I would have had to stay with my family again."

"No problem Sirius, like I said before you can stay here anytime. No offense but I don't know how anyone could stand to be around those people."

"Tell me about it", said Sirius. "If it were up to me I wouldn't even consider them my family."

"Let's forget about them for now", said Sirius. "Where are we going today instead of Kingscross?"

"Ah", said James with a smile. "I have something real exciting in mind for today."

"Well are you going to fill me in or not?"

"I thought we would go visit the Goblin Village up in Corby. I hear they have some really amazing magical items in their shops."

"You do know Goblin magic is illegal for wizards to use, and if we get caught with it at Hogwarts we might even get expelled", said Sirius.

"Well are you up for it?" asked James.

Sirius smiled, "Of course I am."

The two boys dressed quickly and packed their books, robes and school supplies into their trunks. James grabbed his wand from his bedside table and with a swish and a flick the two trunks floated into the air and followed James and Sirius out of the room and down the stairs. The smell of bacon and eggs could be smelled sizzling on the stove, turning themselves over every now and then, as Mrs. Potter hurried from one side of the room to the other making sure all of the boys' things were packed. Morgana Potter was an average height witch with long black hair that she pulled back tightly into a pony tail and green eyes. A small pair of wire rim glasses sat on the end of her nose and she always seemed to wear a smile on her face.

Sitting at the far end of the table was Mr. Potter. Leonard Potter was an older version of James. He had black messy hair with some slight streaks of grey. He wore round rimmed glasses in front of dark brown eyes.

He laid down the copy of the Daily Prophet he was reading and said, "Hello boys, I'm afraid I have some bad news. I was just reading that there was a break in at the Ministry of Magic last night. It seems that someone broke in and trashed a couple of rooms but the paper doesn't say much more beyond that. I will have to head down there and check out what happened after you leave for Kingscross Station."

"Oh Leonard, I hope nothing is seriously wrong", said Mrs. Potter. "This is the third time this summer that someone has broken into the Ministry and only once was something stolen."

"I know Morgana but as Chief Auror I need to make sure there are no dark wizards at work here", said Mr. Potter. "Hopefully it will turn out to be a couple of young trouble makers who with a short threaten to send them to Azkaban will end this problem."

"So they have caught the person this time Mr. Potter?" asked Sirius.

"Yes indeed, we have learned from our mistakes in the past and put some extra security within the Ministry to catch an intruder."

Leonard Potter was made Chief Auror three years ago after serving the Ministry as an auror for over fifteen years. The previous Chief Auror was mysteriously found dead in a muggle neighborhood while on a highly classified mission three years ago. Leonard accepted the position but when he questioned the Ministry about the details of his predecesor's mission they would only tell him the mission was a failure and will not be completed.

James grabbed a piece of toast off the table and taking a bite he asked, "Which part of the ministry was damaged this time dad?"

"It was some of the evidence rooms in the lower part of the Ministry building", replied Mr. Potter. "That whole section of the building has been locked down until my team of Aurors can get in there and check the place out."

"Oh my look at the time", said Mrs. Potter. "Boys grab your trunks and wands and get ready to go"

Mrs. Potter hurried James and Sirius into the large living room with a large stone fire place.

"Now are you both sure you are able to apparate to Kingscross Station on your own this year?" said Mrs. Potter.

"Of course they can Morgana", said Mr. Potter. "They are two of the most talented wizards at Hogwarts or so my good friend Albus Dumbledore tells me every time he stops by the Ministry."

"Well they have been apparating all over the house this summer, no matter how many times I asked them not to", Mrs. Potter said with a smile.

"We had better get going then"; James said turning toward Sirius. "Note the time Sirius."

Sirius gave James a quick smile and then simultaneously they turned with a loud pop and were gone.

Two loud cracks echoed off the soft green hills of the Corby countryside. The mid-morning sun shined brightly on the bustling town.

James and Sirius stepped out from behind a small red brick building that had a large sign with a goblin on it. The goblin looked like he was trying to smile but to James it looked like he was doing a better job of showing his sharp, pointed teeth.

The long street, which ran right through downtown Corby, was lined with buildings similar to the one James and Sirius were standing beside. Muggles could be seen hurrying between as they did their own shopping, not even knowing Goblins lived amongst them. The Goblins weren't able to be seen by people who didn't belong to the magical community. Their houses and building followed the same rule leaving the Muggles clueless to the fact that they were living in the largest Goblin community in Europe.

"We had better get under my invisibility cloak. I don't think the Goblins will sell us anything if they know we are wizards", said James as the two boys walked down the street looking at all the different shops.

"I could transfigure us into a couple of ugly little Goblins", Sirius said pulling out his wand. "How about I give you a long pointed nose and I'll have some floppy ears."

"I know you are great at transfiguration but I think it would be easier to just hide under my cloak. Besides, you know that your specialty is animals with four legs and a tail", said James.

"Ha, yea you're right", said Sirius.

The two boys climbed under the invisibility cloak and made their way toward a small group of shops. The Goblin shops were located in the large alleys between the Muggle buildings. They chose a shop called Mazzaro's Magical Mysteries, pulled the door open and slipped inside. The shop was a lot larger than it looked like from the outside. Inside were about twenty Goblins all looking at different magical items, which sat on large wooden shelves that filled the room.

"Over there James, lets go look at those shelves."

Walking over to the shelves they picked up two round mirrors. When James looked into his mirror he saw Sirius's face in the mirror looking back at him. Sirius's mirror did the same thing showing James's face.

"These mirrors must allow us to be able to communicate with each other. Let's get two of these and over there, we should get a couple of those quills", said Sirius.

"It says these quills allow the writer to draw live detailed maps", said James.

James and Sirius picked up the quills and mirrors and made their way to the front of the store. On the way Sirius grabbed a couple of potions guaranteeing to heal any injury and four amulets which are supposed to amplify the power of any magical spell guaranteed for up to twenty spells.

"I wonder if these amulets work with wizard spells", said Sirius hanging one of the amulets around his neck and throwing another one around James's neck.

When they reached the register James lifted the invisibility cloak and set down a small bag of galleons on the counter to pay for their items. The shocked Goblin shopkeeper looked at the bag of gold for a minute and then quickly placed it in the register.

They left the store and made their way back to the far end of town to apparate to Platform 9 and ¾. Hours had passed since the Hogwarts express would have left the station so apparating at this time back to London would have been pointless. James pulled a small metal object out of his pocket with a small hourglass in the center.

"What time was it when we left the house this morning?", asked James.

"I think it was nine forty-five", replied Sirius as he studied the round mirror they had just purchased.

James put the chain hanging from the time tuner around his and Sirius's neck. He turned a knob on the device four and a half turns and the sun began to move backward across the sky until it reached the point it had been that morning when they had arrived. James looked around the edge of the building and saw another James and Sirius walking down the crowded road of Corby.

"You know if your dad ever found out it was us who snuck into the Ministry that first time and stole a time tuner we would be in a load of trouble."

"Yea I know and since other people keep breaking in I have been worried that something might give it away that it was us", said James. "But being animangi sure came in handy that night for our escape."

James and Sirius were what the magical world called animangi, which meant they could transfigure themselves into an animal. This was not an easy feat even for the most talented witch or wizard, but James, Sirius had worked hard to accomplish this.

"Alright, lets head back to London so we can leave for school."

James and Sirius both drew their wands and on the count of three there was a loud pop and two boys were gone.

Kingscross, London, two loud cracks ring out in the noisy Platform 9 and 3/4 and James and Sirius step out from behind a wall. James ran his hand through his black, messy hair as he stepped out onto the platform with Sirius by his side.

"James, Sirius!" a high pitched voice called out from the crowd as a short stocky boy with a pointy nose pushed his way towards the two.

It was Peter Pettigrew one of James and Sirius's good friends from school. Trailing shortly behind Peter holding a large stack of books was another of their good friends Remus Lupin. The four boys stood together on the platform talking together for a while exchanging stories of their summer holiday. The four friends had been together since their first year at Hogwarts after being placed into Gryffindor house. They loaded their luggage onto the train and climbed on the Hogwarts Express to find a cabin for themselves. This was always an enjoyable trip when they could spend time together before getting loaded with homework once the school year started and this year was sure to be the hardest year of all with all the advanced level courses they would be taking.


End file.
